ABF substrates – AT&S announces expanded collaboration with Marvell

AT&S (ATSV.VI, not covered) has expanded its IC substrate agreement with Marvell (MRVL.O, covered by Joseph Moore) to support AI and cloud infrastructure demand, confirming Marvell as the previously unnamed anchor customer behind the Kulim expansion alongside AMD. The build-out spans the Plant 2 fit-out and a new substrate core and advanced packaging facility, supported by long-term customer commitments. AT&S' announcement of further collaboration with Marvell again implies strong demand for advanced ABF substrates. It should be viewed primarily as customer identification and confirmation of the strategic relationship behind the June project rather than adding another expansion on top of June's EUR 1.5-2.0bn plan. We believe this implies that Marvell is buying priority access to the part of the AI supply chain most likely to gate its shipments. This supports our positive view on the ABF segment. We think it has positive implications for Unimicron and Nan Ya PCB, both of which we rate O